There’s a magical place in Griffith Park ^[1]called the Trails Cafe. At the end of a long hike, you’ll find it tucked away in a small clearing. It’s a cafe called the Trails ^[2] but it’s not really a cafe. It’s more like a cabin in the woods where fresh pies cool on the windowsill inviting you to relax and indulge in nature’s bounty.

We like to go to Griffith Park and hike alllllll the way up to the Observatory. ^[3] On a warm day, the hike gets to be a bit much for a 5 year old, but with the promise of the Trail’s ^[2] famed “Snake Dog” my kid always presses on.

Snake dogs are really quite simple. Hot dogs on a stick wrapped in a flaky pastry and baked in the oven until puffy and golden. They may sound simple but after a long hike they are divine. At the cafe they are served with fresh berries and we generally follow our dogs up with a strawberry rhubarb mini-pie for dessert.

^[4]

 

The Trails offers both veggie dogs and beef dogs and theirs is made with homemade pastry. We cheated a bit, but the end result was the same. Smiles all around.